Road-grader



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1;

H. K. LEEDHAM.

ROAD GRADER. No. 583,147. Patented May 25, 1897.-

l al 1 v r I l I I I Y E MORE 5 F ER IHNGYON D C 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. K. LEEDHAM.

(No Model.)

ROAD GRADER.

m 7 W 0 9 k f m f 2 w w M .7 1 a d r w E] n 5 c 6 t w a m P k\ MR L 7 M.M 6 I S 3 6. 8 6 r 5 I N UNITED STATES PATENT @EETCE.

I-IORATIO K. LEEDHAM, OF MOUNT PLEASANT, IOYVA.

ROAD-G RADER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 583,147, dated May 25,1897.

Application filed December 19, 1895. $erial No. 572,619. (No model.)

' T0 ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HORATIO K. LEEDHAM, a citizen of the United Statesof America, and a resident of Mount Pleasant, in the county of Henry andState of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Road-Grader, of which thelargely limited because of the complicated machinery and mechanicaldetails by which the scraper-blade ordinarily is manipulated as requiredto swing the said scraper-blade laterally relative to the line ofadvancement of the machine.

The common primary object of all machines of this character is to soadjust, support, and manipulate the scraper-blade and its supportingmechanism as that it may readily and easily be raised and lowered orswung laterally of or diagonally to the line of advancement of themachine, and at the same time to provide a maximum degree of rigidity ofconnections and support, so that the scraperblade will, in any positionin which it may be located, readily overcome the resistance of hardimpacted earth commonly encountered in the practical use of road-grading. It also is extremely desirable that the lateral play of the blade beas great as possible in order that wider areas of surface may becomprehended and reduced to the desired grade or angle.

The special object of my present invention is in line with the generalobjects stated, and may be briefly summarized as follows: to so supportthe scraper-blade as that it may be rotated readily and conveniently ona vertical axis; to so mount the scraper-blade and its bar or bars asthat the same may be swung laterally to a greater degree than heretoforehas been possible; to so connect the bars supporting the scraper bladewith the front trucks of the machine as that the said bars maintain anadjustable relation with the said trucks and occupy a uniform horizontalplane at their forward ends; to so connect the mechanism supporting thescraper-blade with a worm-gear as thatin the manipulation of the geareither or both ends of the scraper-bar may be elevated or loweredindependently or conjunctively, as desired, and retained in a givendesired position without auxiliary lockin g mechanism, and to provide aconveniently operated lock whereby the scraper-blade may be rigidlypositioned at any desired angle to the line of advancement of themachine.

To'the end of attaining the above objects and other objects involvingsimilar mechanism, my invention consists in the construction,arrangement, and combination of parts herein after set forth,pointed outin my claims, and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in WhichFigure 1 is a perspective illustrating the working parts of my completemachine, portions of the wheels and tongue only being broken away. Fig.2 is a perspective illustratin g the circle-bar employed to sustain thescraper-blade, the truss and segment bars sustaining the circle-bar, thedraft-bars sustaining the truss and segment bars, the mechanism forrotating the circle-bar, and the lock whereby the circle-bar is rigidlypositioned. Fig. is a detail rear elevation of the worm-gear mechanismfor raising and lowering the scraper mechanism. Fig. 4 is a sectionalelevation on the indicated line 4 4 of Fig. 5, and Fig. 5 is a rearelevation in detail of the worm-gear mechanism employed to swing thescraper mechanism laterally. Fig. 6 is a detail elevation, partly insection, longitudinally of the machine, illustrating the means employedto connect the forward ends of the draft-bars to the front trucks. Fig.7 is a plan in diagram illustrating a normal location of the scrapermechanism relative to the line of advancement of the machine, the dottedlines indicating abnormal positions of the same mechanism. Fig. 8 is adetail elevation illustrating the manner of connecting the scraper-bladeto the circle-bar.

In the construction of the machine as shown I preferably employoppositely-located and longitudinally-parallel-disposed side beams 10'11, which beams are preferably made of channel-bars and rest at theirfront ends upon the bolster 12 and at their rear ends upon standards 1313. The standards 1.3 13 are mounted upon and fixed to the rear axle 14of the machine, which axle is supported in wheels 15 15. The bolster 12rests upon a fifth-wheel 16 and is connected thereto by a king-bolt 17.A bail 18, provided with loops at its upper and lower ends, isvertically positioned, so thatthe king-bolt 17 traverses the said loops.The bail 18 is provided near its lower end with a half-loop 10 at therear of the king-bolt. A draw-rod 20 is provided and is formed with aloop or eye 21 on its forward end, embracing the bail 1S and normallyresting in the half-loop 1.). The draw-rod 20 has a straight bodyportion and a screw-threaded rear end on which is mounted anadjusting-nut 253. The body portion of the draw-rod 20 traversesapertures formed in the central portion of a head-block 23, and anexpansive coil-spring 21 is mounted on said draw-rod between the rearface of the head-block and the adjusting-nut 22, which spring forms acushion for the draft when applied to the head-block.

Draft bars or beams 25 26 are provided and are rigidlyseeured at theirforward ends to and upon opposite sides of the head-block The draft-barsextend rearwardly from the head-block to a transverse plane slightly inadvance of the wheels 15 15 and in their rearward extension diverge inopposite directions from the longitudinal axis of the machine.

The draft-bars are arched or goosenecked immediately in the rear of thepoints of attachment to the head-block, and there is located beneathsaid bars, immediately at the rear of the arches therein, a segment-bar27. The segmentdiar 27 is rigidly clamped to the draft-bars and isprovided with downwardly and rearwardly extending lugs or seats 28,arranged at the ends and at intermediate points of the length of saidbar. A similar segmentbar 29, of greater length than the bar 27, isoppositely positioned on the draft-bars E25 20 at such a distance to therear of the bar 27 as may be necessary to permit of the introductiontherebetween of a circle-bar of the desired diameter. The segment-bar 29is provided with downwardly and forwardly extending lugs of a likecharacter to those indicated at 28, and it may be observed that all ofthe lugs on the segment-bars radiate from a common axis which is theaxis of each segment. The segment-bar 29 also is clamped rigidly to thedraft-bars, and by reason of the clamps employed to mount thesegment-bars said bars may be adjusted to some degree relative to eachother or readily removed or replaced.

A circle-bar 30 is provided, which comprises an annular plate of athickness corresponding approximately to the thickness of thesegment-bars and designed to rest upon the lugs of the segment-bars andbe confined against upward movement by the draftbars. The circle-bar 30is confined against forward or rearward movement by the segment-bars andis supported against lateral movement and central flexure by lugs 31 32,fixed to and projectin g downwardly and inwardly from a truss 33, whichtruss is clamped to the draft-bars approximatelymidway between thesegmentbars. The eirele-bar 30 is provided with an internal gear 3t anda series of vertical apertures A bearing-plate 36 is interposed betweenand rigidly fixed to the draft-bars 25 26 at the rear of the truss 33and in front of the segment 2!), in which bearing-plate is verticallypositioned a short shaft 37, bearing 011 its lower end a pinion ordriving-gear 38, which gear meshes with the gear 34 of the circle-bar. Ashoulder is formed on the shaft 37 and engages against the upper face ofthe bearing-plate to sustain the said shaft, and the upper portion ofsaid shaft is bossed and bifurcated. A cross-bar (not shown) eonnectsthe channel bars or beams 10 11 at a point above and slightly to therear of the vertical plane of the shaft 37, and a bracket 3.) is fixedto said cross-bar and extends upwardly and forwardly therefrom. Aneyebolt 40 is swiveled in the bracket 39, and a sleeve 41 is looselymounted in the eye of said eyebolt and is provided at its upper end witha hand-wheel 42. The sleeve 41 is circular in cross-section and squaredor made angular on its interior and is designed to admit an angular rod43, which rod is connected at its lower end by a link it to thebifurcated end portion of the shaft 37.

An angle-plate 15 is fixed to the upper face of the segment-bar 29 andprojects over and upon the rear portion of the circle-bar. Theangle-plate 45 is apertured with registering holes located in the orbitof travel of the apertures 35 in the circle-bar 30. A bent rod 46 isprovided and the vertical portion thereof is seated in the apertures inthe angle-plate 45 and is of such length as to extend through saidangle-plate and into one or another of the apertures 35 in thecircle-bar. A collar 47 is rigidly mounted on the vertical portion ofthe rod 46 and an expansive coil-sprin g -18 is mounted on the rodbetween said collar and the upper portion of the angle-plate andnormally tends to depress said rod into engagement with the circle-bar.The horizontal portion of the rod 40 extends across a standard 49, fixedto the angleplate, and said standard is provided with two notches in itsupper edge at different altitudes, which notches are connected by aninclined portion of the edge.

The outer end. portions of the truss 33 are connected by rods 50 51. tocrank-arms 52 53, respectively, which crank-arms are located on oppositesides of the machine and at times project in opposite directions. Thecrankarm 52 is connected rigidly to the forward end portion of arock-shaft 54, seated in bearings mounted on the channel bar or beam 10and extending rearwardly to a point approximately over the rear axle ofthe machine. A face-wheel 05 is mounted rigidly on the rear end of therock-shaft 54 and is of such formation and construction as to serve andoperate as a worm-wheel. A short shaft 56 is mounted adjacent to therear end of the rock-shaft 54 and at right angles thereto, and a worm 57is formed on said shaft 56 and engages with the wheel 55. The inner endportion of the shaft 56 is provided with a hand-wheel 58. The crank-arm53 is mounted on a similar rockshaft located on the beam 11 and isoperated by a similar worm-gear at the rear end thereof.

A shaft 59 is horizontally positioned parallel with and adjacent to therear axle 14 of the machine, and is provided at each end with a drum 60.A worm-wheel 61 is mounted rigidly on the shaft 59 and is engaged by aworm 62 on a vertical shaft 63, seated in the rear portion of the frameof the machine and operated by a hand-wheel 64 on its upper end. A chain65 is connected at its rear end to the right drum 60, extends forwardtherefrom around a flanged sleeve 66, mounted on a standard 67, whichstandard is seated in an inclined position in the machine-frame andextends from said sleeve across the plane of the draft-bar 25, and isattached by means of a clevis to the rear end of the draft-bar 26. Achain 68 is connected at its rear end to the left drum 60, extendsforward therefrom around a sleeve similar to the sleeve 66 and mountedin same manner, and extends from said sleeve across the plane of thedraft-bar 26 and across the forward end portion of the chain 65, and isconnected by a clevis to the rear end of the draft-bar 25.

The worm-gear, sleeves, and standards, and the chains operated thereby,are the same in this application as in the allowed applicationpreviously mentioned herein, with the exception that in this instancethe forward ends of the chains cross each other and connect to two bars,whereas in the prior application the chains were conjunctively attachedto a single bar.

A seat 70 is mounted on the forward portions of the beams 10 11, and afoot-rest 71 is located below and in front of the seat. An axle 72 isfixed to and supports the fifth-wheel 16, and a tongue or other draftmechanism is attached to the axle. A platform 73 is supported on oradjacent to the rear axle 14 of the machine and is employed to supportan attendant who operates the scraping mechanism.

Two beams 7 4 are fixed to and extend downwardly and forwardly fromopposite sides of the circle-bar 30, and ascraper-blade 75 is fixed tothe lower forward ends of said beams and is thereby rigidly connected tothe circlebar.

When it is desired to adjust the scraperblade laterally relative to theline of advancement of the machine, the operator, standing upon the rearend of the platform, rotates the hand-wheel 64 and shaft 63, thusactuating the worm 62, which meshes with the wormwheel 61 and rotatesthe shaft 59. In the rotation of the shaft 59 one of the chains isunwound from and the other is wound upon the respective drums and therear ends of the draft-bars are thereby carried laterally into thepositions shown by dotted lines in Fig. 7 or such intermediate positionsas the attendant may desire.

WVhen it is desired to lift one or the other end of the scraper-bar, oneor the other of the hand-wheels 58 is rotated, thus operating theworm-gear connected thereto, oscillating the shaft 54 and crank-arm 52or 53, as the case may be, and lifting the rod 50 or 51. Either or botlrof the hand-wheels 58 may be operated at a time as it may be desired tolift or lower either or both ends of the scraper-bar.

\Vhen it is desired to adjust the scraper at an angle or any anglerelative to the line of advancement of the machine, the lever or rod 46is pedally moved up the incline and into the upper notch of the standard49 to release the circle-bar, and the hand-wheel 42 is rotated. In therotation of the hand-wheel 42 the sleeve 41 is revolved, the angular rod43 is rotated, the shaft 37 is acted upon and drives the gear 38 in meshwith the gear 34 and rotates the circle-bar, and, since the cirole-baris rigidly connected to the scraper, the said scraper thereby isadjusted. When the desired degree of adjustment is secured,

the rod 46 is pedally removed from the upper notch of the standard 49and reseated in the lower notch andthe lower end thereof engages thecircle-bar.

If the scraper-blade in its forward progress should come in contact withan immovable body, such as a stone or stump, it may be freed from thisobstacle by reversing the circle-bar carrying the blade, or it may belifted entirely over the impediment by the manipulation of hand-wheels58, actuating the rocking arm, and thus raising the truss 33.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a road-grader, the combination with awheel-truck and draft-bars mounted thereon, of a truss rigidly mountedtransversely of said draft-bars and projecting beyond the same; acircle-bar carried by said truss, which circle-bar is toothed entirelyaround its inner edge and revoluble relative to the truss, segment-barsrigidly fixed to the draft-bars in front of and behind the circle-barand engaging under said circle-bar, a gear supported by the draft-barsand engaging the toothed edge of the circle-bar, a shaft universallyjointed to said gear, means for rotating said shaft; a scraper bar orblade carried by said circle-bar, means for elevating said draftbars andlowering the same and means for shifting said draft-bars laterally.

2. In a roadgrader, draft-bars, a headblock connected to the forwardends of said draft-bar, a draw-rod yieldingly mounted in said head-blockand a bail provided with a notch or half-loop to receive said draw-rodand normally retain the same.

3. In a road-grader a circle-bar, an inter- IIO nal gear on saidcircle-bar, a driving-gear meshing with said internal gear a short shaftcarrying said driving-gear, an angular shaft 43 universally jointed tothe said short shaft, a sleeve 41 having an angular interior borelongitudinally thereof to receive the angular shaft 43, and a hand-Wheelon the upper end of said sleeve.

4:. In a road-grader, a circle-bar provided with a series of verticalapertures, segmentbars provided with lugs to support said cirole-bar anda locking-rod mounted for rotation and rectilinear reciprocation on oneof said segments and engaging at times in one or the other of theapertures in said circlebar in combination with a plate 49 having seatsin its upper edge at different elevations to receive the locking-rod andhold the same in or out of engagement, a collar 47 on the rod and anexpansive coil-spring acting against said collar to seat the locking-rodwhen released from the upper seat in the plate.

5. In a road-grader, draft-bars, a head block connected to the forwardends of said draftbars, a draw-rod yieldingly mounted in saidhead-block, a bail provided with a halfloop or notch to receive saiddraw-rod and normally retain the same, the draw-rod being free to moveunder strain forwardly and vertically out of the half-loop a materialdistance, and a pin to which the bail is hinged.

IIORATIO K. LEEDIIAH.

Vitnesses:

WM. V. Bonn, GEO. VAN BEEK.

